Now that we’re sufficiently ticked off, how do we keep being friends? For yes, our friends will tick us off, annoy us, disappoint us, offend us, and hurt us. That’s what people do from time to time. That’s what we do from time to time.

Although the first inclination may be to adopt the hermit life, or put up walls and never be vulnerable again, we must stop. Stop and consider our debt.

Not unlike the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18, we owed a debt we could never repay. Burdened with sin, slanderous at heart, putrid and vile inside, our best attempts at goodness were like bloody rags (Isaiah 64:6).

Yet God forgave us.

As we sit and consider our debt- really think upon it’s weightiness- we see things differently. Suddenly, the forgotten phone calls and overwhelming chatter don’t seem so big. Suddenly, the offenses seems so small. If God forgave us, how can we not forgive our friends?

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you .” (New King James Version, Ephesians 4:32) (emphasis mine)

God knows our pain. He understands the hurt. Let us share it with Him, for He longs to carry our burdens. He longs to heal our hearts. Stop trying to muster up grace, let us run to God and ask for His grace to forgive our friends.

He wants to help us.

And He is pleased when we want to love like Him.